A hidden treasure along Route 91 in Westerly. I have driven by the sign several times and glanced across the athletic fields. What I never knew (until I did a little research) is that there is a great hiking trail here. The trail is in fact a cross country trail for the Westerly High School but open to the public when not in use by them. The trail is blazed orange, but at the time of the hike, the blazes were a little faint. Just be sure to keep an eye for them at turns and intersections. The access the trail head from the parking area you must cross the large grass field to the right. You will find the trail head at the back end of the field. A short entrance trail will be the first part of the hike. Turn left at the intersection to do the orange blazed loop. The trail climbs slowly and steadily uphill for a bit passing stone walls, a vernal pool, and a fern covered forest first heading northerly before turning to the south. Ahead a trail to the left will lead you into the Woody Hill Management Area. Continue to the right here and continue to follow the blazes. When you reach the southern end of the loop you will come upon a large open field filled with tall grass and wildflowers. A path to the left will lead you back into the woods. Turn right here and follow the path along the edge of the woods keeping the field to your left. Take your time here and enjoy the sights. At the time of this hike the field had a variety of butterflies and the sounds of crickets. But the dragonflies stole the show, literally hundreds of them buzzing around. Soon the field path enters back into the woods and the trail starts its long descent downhill. Keep an eye out for a spur trail to the left. This trail leads you to a monument in the woods built in 1886 in honor of the Vars family who first came to the colonies in 1680. After stopping by the monument continue along the orange blazed trail, still descending, to the entrance trail. Here you will want to turn left and cross the field once again to the parking area.

Burlingame is most likely known for its campground off of Route 1. What most people do not know is that there is an abandoned camp on the north end of Watchaug Pond. Starting from a small parking area by a gate (two tenths of a mile east of the main parking area) on Buckeye Brook Road, you first follow an old dirt road southerly into the management area. You will soon come to an intersection. The trail that crosses is the 8 mile Vin Gormley Trail. For this hike continue straight ahead passing a couple small ledges and stone walls. The trail the splits at a fork, stay to the right for the first views of the former camps ruins. On the left you will see an old structure that is decaying rapidly. Continuing ahead you will soon come to another trail intersection. You will want to turn left here, but first follow the trail straight ahead for your first glimpse of Watchaug Pond. Returning to the last intersection, (trail now on your right), turn and follow the trail to the next intersection. The trail to the left would lead you back to the trail you came in on, the trail to the right will lead you to some more ruins if you care to check them out, the trail ahead is what you want to continue on. The trail slowly veers to the right and out to a small beach that overlooks the pond. At the opposite end of the beach the trail continues. Stay to the right, the trail winds to the left through an area that looks as if it were once campsites. The trail now bends to the north passing another building on the right before narrowing quite substantially and following a stone wall to the right. At the next trail intersection turn left onto the yellow blazed Vin Gormley Trail. In a few hundred feet you will come to the old dirt road you came in on. Turn right here and retrace you steps back to the parking area. Other than the Vin Gormley Trail, none of the trails on this hike are blazed.

A few quick notes about this hike. Lincoln Woods is notorious for having many unmarked trails that one could easily get lost on. It is highly recommendable that you use a GPS device if you choose to embark on this hike. Although I tried to keep it as easy as possible (as far as navigation) I think improvements can be made. Some of this hike is road walking and I do believe there are other trails that can eliminate that. I fully intend on returning to this area of Lincoln Woods to explore further and finalize a route.

This hike starts at the dam at the eastern end of Olney Pond in Lincoln Woods. There is a parking area suitable for about 15 cars. At the north end of the parking lot is the Jodi Lussier Memorial. Pass the rock and veer left to the right of large outcrop onto a trail that leads into a small valley. Stay to the left and follow the wider trail that approaches the pond. To the right just before the pond is a trail to the right that climbs uphill. At the top of the hill you will encounter your first experience of multiple trails to choose from. For this hike, stay to the left to parallel the pond. The trail soon dips close to the shore and is marked with red squares. The trail winds, with the pond to left and a hill with boulders on right, up and over small hills following the red square blazes. Along the way there are several spots to view pond. Ahead the trail splits. The trail to the right comes out to an old woods road that you will be on later. For now stay close to the pond. The key is to continue ahead taking lefts to continue to parallel the pond. By doing so you will turn onto a peninsula onto a trail that leads out to Sunset Point. The trail turns to the right, still following the shore, around the point and up to a rock outcrop that overlooks the pond. From here continue to follow the trails along the ponds edge and it will come back to the old woods road. Turn left here and follow the road downhill, again continuing to follow the shore. The aptly named Boulderwood Cove is now on your left. To be sure you are where you should be, you should see a single boulder emerging from the water at this point. Ahead is another multiple trail intersection. Turn left and the trail almost immediately splits. Stay to the left again following the path by the shore once again. Another split is ahead, again stay to the left. Continuing straight ahead there are a couple spur trails to the right you will ignore. Soon you will pass a large balancing boulder on the right. Continue straight ahead following the most defined trail until you reach a flat area surrounding you with large rocks. Here the trail splits again. This time stay slightly to the right (straight) and up the small hill. This trail and another merge at the top of the hill. Stay to left towards the massive boulders. Continuing ahead the trail you are on merges with another. Continue ahead to road passing through picnic site 59. Across the road is picnic site 27. To the left of the site is the trail that scrambles uphill. Cross the road and follow this trail uphill to another massive ledge. Stay to the left of the large rock and follow the base of it to the other side. Continuing the trail narrows and continues straight ahead following faded green dots. Soon the trail abruptly turns left down a rock outcrop into a small valley and crosses a stream. The trail narrows even further, then takes sharp right at a large boulder. Follow the face of the boulder, the trail turns slightly left and then continues straight to Quinsicket Road. Turn right follow road passing picnic sites 29 through 32 on the right. On the left you will notice signs indicating that the trails are used by horse back riders. Follow the paved road up and over a significant hill. As the road starts to climb up again it bends to the left. There is a parking area on the right. Turn right here through the parking area toward row of concrete blocks and rocks that block the old woods road. Grass covered at first, and blazed blue, this trail heads east. To the right is the top of Tablerock Hill. The trail then starts to descend and becomes quite rocky. At the next split the blue blazes stay to left. Here you want to stay to the right and go downhill. The next intersection, at the bottom of the hill, turn right and follow dirt road that leads to picnic sites 2 and 3. Continuing pass the picnic sites you will soon turn right onto the road that wraps around a large field on the left. On the right is the entrance of picnic site 4. At the back of the site is a large ledge with an inscription in it about Bobby Donato, a local, who served in the United States Marines. Retracing you steps back to the road. Continue to the entrance of picnic site 5. Here at the sites entrance is a large outcrop known as Pulpit Rock. It is said that Metacom, a Wampanoag leader, would address his warriors here. Just beyond the picnic site are two trails. For this hike take the one to the left. It passes a small quarry on the left and a small pond on the right before it starts climbing uphill with a stone wall on the left. The trails soon come together, stay to the left here on the more defined trail. This trail continues to climb uphill and soon bends to the right. Ignore the trail to the left and continue another 30 feet or so to the next trail intersection. It is here you will turn left and follow the trail passing a boulder on your right. Continue straight, staying to the left trail downhill as it traverses over an outcrop and then soon a wooden bridge over a stream. To your left are picnic sites 10 and 11 and Goat Rock. For this hike continue straight. The trail here is a wide dirt path that also passes picnic sites 13 and 14 again on your left. Continue straight to the next intersection then veer to left. This trail leads you to the backside of some more picnic sites. Stay on the trail as it bends to the right up and over one last hill. At the top of the hill you will see the road ahead. This trail ends at the road intersection, cross the road and continue straight. You are now on Stump Hill Road and your car is ahead on the right.

This walk follows the old railroad bed of the Boston and Hartford Railroad easterly to the Blackstone River from the parking area on the corner of Central and Hope Streets. Just recently this stretch has been paved and is now part of the newly opened Blackstone Greenway Bike Path. The old rail bed is flanked by trees and shrubs as it passes a residential neighborhood. At the sitting bench just beyond the mid way point of this walk is a set of wooden stairs that leads to the trail that winds down to the former Blackstone Canal along the river. Just to the left is a small footbridge that crosses Angelique Brook to the lock. The large stones that make the lock were put in place in the late 1820’s when the Blackstone Canal was being built. The lock served as a point where water levels could be controlled for the passage of barges along the canal. The Millville Lock is the most preserved along the stretch of the Blackstone River. Continuing back to the bike path and turning left you will soon come to a bridge that crosses the Blackstone River. After crossing the bridge turn around and take a good look around. To the left and slightly above is a towering concrete support of a bridge that was never built. That support, along with one behind your right shoulder and below in the river to your left were built to carry the Grand Trunk Rail over the Blackstone River. The president of that company died on the RMS Titanic in April of 1912. Though construction continued for several more years, plans for the railroad were scraped and the bridge was never built. Ahead, the bridge you just crossed, was the rail bridge that served as Boston and Hartford Railroads Southern New England Trunkline. Today it is used partly as the Blackstone River Greenway and also as a trail that runs from the state line at Thompson, Connecticut and runs easterly to Franklin. And finally, below and to the right you will see the Providence and Worcester Railroad bridge that crosses the river. That bridge is still in active use by trains. At one time in the early 20th century it was intended that three railroad bridges would cross the Blackstone River at the same spot, hence earning its name, Triad Bridge. At this point you are approximately a mile from the parking lot. For this walk return along the bike path back to your car, or you can add several more miles of walking by continuing east. The bike path continues about another mile and a half to its easterly terminus in Blackstone.

This wonderful, lesser known forest tucked away in Westerly offers quite a bit. There are four blazed trails (blue, yellow, red, and white) that wind though the woods crossing gently flowing streams. In fact there are several stream crossings along the route of the hike. There is also an old dam that once formed a reservoir for the nearby neighborhoods drinking water supply. Today, it serves as a piece of local history and yesteryear’s craftsmanship. This property also offers several large rocks and boulders. The property is not open to the public unless a guided walk is given. The Westerly Land Trust offers walks every Thursday morning from the autumn to the spring. On occasion they will lead a hike on this property.

Part of the Sakonnet Greenway Trails, the Middletown Southern Loop is the southern most of three loop trails of the Greenway. The well marked yellow blazed trail winds around the edges of large open fields and through areas of woods. It also follows the edge of the Wyatt Road Soccer Complex as well making its way through Newport Vineyards property. The loop trail, mostly grass paths, is flanked in several areas by thick brush, a haven for birds. The trail also crosses a couple streams and passes small ponds. The trail tends to be a little muddy after heavy rain but otherwise is very easy on the feet as it is well maintained.

The big red barn and the wooden bridge over the canal are one of New England’s best known sights. In the barn, once part of a diary farm, is a rather impressive visitors center that has exhibits that explain the history of the area. For this hike, the second of four planned here, we followed the towpath from the covered bridge south to the Stanley Woolen Mill. The towpath follows the canal that was once used to transport goods from Worcester to Providence along the banks of the Blackstone River. Before taking this walk obtain a pamphlet (the one with the numbers in it) at the visitor center and take it with you. Along the walk you will find signposts with corresponding numbers on them. Be sure to take a peek at the river it self. This section of the towpath is a little over a mile long one way, flat, and is suitable for walkers and strollers.